Turn Away and Return
by HighKingMargo
Summary: A stray daemon has been wandering around the Salvatore School campus ever since the portal to Malivore closed, and Josie intends to find out why. When she finally pieces together his story, she finds much more than she bargained for, including a girl she could swear she's already falling in love with.
1. Ásfriðr

"It's here again. Don't move too fast."

Josie glanced up at her daemon, a small brown bat, who sat against her bedroom window and looked out over the school grounds. She put down the book she'd been reading and gently moved the curtain out of the way.

It looked like an ordinary house cat, except that it wasn't. It lurked through the shadows of the woods, its tabby pattern almost completely camouflaged in the mottled afternoon light. Its gaze roamed over the grounds with purpose.

"I don't like it," Josie said. "He looks like he knows what he's doing, and his person can't be far behind. I just don't know what they want."

"I don't think it has a person," Reuven whispered. "It's been scouting out here all summer and we've never seen a person with it. That's weird, Josie."

"Come on. We both know that's impossible."

Josie swore as the cat caught her eye for a split second and disappeared into the trees.

"It could be possible," Reuven insisted. He flew to Josie's shoulder. "It's obviously a daemon, but do you see anywhere down there a person could be hiding? Because I don't."

Josie looked back down at where the cat had been walking. Reuven was right; there was plenty of undergrowth among the trees, but no bushes or tree trunks large enough for a person to hide behind. Her stomach churned a little.

"You're not thinking of going after it, are you?"

"Don't you think it's time we did?" Josie scoffed. "I want to know what's up with him. And anyway, it's just a daemon. He can't do anything to me."

"Okay," Reuven said, "but I don't think you'll be able to get anywhere near it."

* * *

The woods were empty and silent by the time Josie reached them, but she called out as she wandered through the trees, anyway.

"Hello?" She ducked under a branch and gazed around the area where the cat had disappeared. "I know you're probably still out here. I just want to talk."

Nothing.

"Please? Maybe I can help you."

"Josie?"

Josie jumped and Reuven flew from her shoulder, startled. Landon stood a few feet behind her; she'd been so caught up in searching for the stray daemon that she hadn't heard him follow her.

"You saw him, too, didn't you?" he said. "The cat."

"Yeah," Josie said. "I thought I was the only one who ever noticed him."

"It's weird, right?" Landon held his daemon, Pernilla, against his chest. She had only recently settled as a mole. "I mean, it kind of freaks me out, seeing him around here without a human."

Josie didn't need him to say that he was freaked out to know; she could tell by the way he held Pernilla. They'd grown close enough over the past couple of months that she could read most of his body language like a book. She didn't quite know why, but she hoped he couldn't do the same to her.

"It's definitely weird." Josie looked one last time into the trees before turning around. "And he obviously doesn't want to be found."

"What about all those stories about witches being far from their daemons?" Landon said. "I mean, I know they're not true, obviously. But maybe one is? You know, like one that's been to Malivore and back?"

Josie shook her head. "I don't know. He showed up after you destroyed Malivore, and even if something got out at the last minute, it shouldn't be staking out the school like this."

"You're probably right." Landon helped Pernilla onto his shoulder and she watched behind them as they left the woods. "I'm glad you've seen him too, though. I thought I was going nuts."

"I was beginning to think we were, too," Reuven whispered to Josie. He said it, she knew, because he still thought so. He knew something that Landon didn't know and that Josie had been afraid to admit since the cat had first shown up: that she knew this daemon somehow. She couldn't conjure an image of its person's face, and she didn't have any real memory of seeing it before, but it felt too familiar.

Both of them knew she wouldn't stop until she found it.

* * *

"I still think this is a bad idea," Reuven said that night as Josie prepared a locator spell. "I mean, what are you going to do? Grab it and make it talk?"

"I can hold him still with magic," Josie said. She smoothed a map of the campus over the floor. "It doesn't have to be that invasive. Why are you so afraid to find out what his deal is?"

"I don't know. I don't like how I feel when I look at it."

Josie ignored him and focused on conjuring an image of the cat: long, rich brown fur, dark mackerel stripes, a long face with large green eyes. "_Ahsorum, dolusantum, infidictus_."

The back corner of the map began to glow, and a bright, pulsating pinprick of light settled directly on top of a tree.

Reuven inched onto the map to look closer. "Is that…?"

"Yeah." Josie snatched the map off the ground and hurried out of the room so quickly that Reuven was barely able to slip through before the door closed.

Josie kept an eye on the map as she ducked through the trees and headed toward the edge of the property. Hardly anyone ever went that far through the woods, but Josie and Lizzie had explored every inch of them as children. The tree, when she reached it, was exactly how they'd left it years ago: large and hollow, but not nearly as grand as when she'd been four feet tall. The cat lay curled asleep within the trunk.

Josie stopped several yards back, and this time it was Reuven who couldn't help his curiosity. He fluttered toward the tree as silently as his wings would allow and landed at the edge of the hollow. He slowly crept closer to the cat, but its eyes flew open and it reacted with the fastest reflexes Josie had ever seen. It had already torn away to the point it was almost out of sight before Josie managed to get the spell out of her mouth.

The cat froze in its tracks and Josie jogged to catch up with it. It hissed and spat, and when she entered its field of view, its glare sent a chill down her spine. She'd never seen a daemon look at a person with so much spite.

The hissing fell to a deep growl, and the cat spoke, low and steady: "Let me go."

"I'm not trying to hurt you," Josie said, but her voice was taut. "I just want to know who you are. And how did you find that tree? My sister and I cloaked it years ago."

The cat only silently continued to glare at her, but there was something else in his eyes. Longing or pain or something of that nature. She should have led with a different question.

"Where's your person?"

The cat stared at her. "Let go of me," he said. "I'm not going to talk to you like this."

Josie hesitated, then dropped the spell. The cat stretched and sat down, his body tense. He wrapped his tail tightly around his paws before speaking again.

"My person is gone."

Josie exchanged a glance with Reuven, and he instinctively moved closer to her. "What do you mean, they're 'gone?'" she said. "They're…dead?"

"No," the cat said. "She's alive, obviously. But she's not here. She's not anywhere anymore."

"That doesn't make any sense," Josie murmured.

The cat sighed, and it almost looked as if he were about to say something else, but he shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said. "You won't be seeing me again." He unfurled his tail and stood up.

"Wait," Reuven said. He lit upon the ground in front of the cat and reached one clawed wing out to touch the cat's paw. "What's your name?"

The cat narrowed his eyes and glanced between Reuven and Josie. He searched her face for a long moment, and eventually, he said, "Ásfriðr." Then, he disappeared into the depths of the forest.

* * *

Reuven lay against Josie's neck as she stared up at the ceiling in her room. It wasn't cold, but she could feel him shivering. She still felt sick to her stomach herself.

"How could his person just be gone?" Reuven whispered eventually. "I can't imagine it. I don't understand how that can happen."

"It won't happen to us," Josie said, answering his unspoken question. "Whatever they did, it had to be intentional. There's no way something like that could be an accident."

Reuven looked up at her. "You have an idea, don't you?"

Josie sighed and rolled onto her side to face him. "The timing. I mean, there's coincidence, and then there's this."

"Malivore."

Josie nodded. "Malivore. I think Landon was right, just…not the way he thought. I don't think some witch with a flying broom and a daemon who could leave her came out of the pit. I think his person went in without him. We know other people were there when Landon closed it."

"But who would go in without their daemon? The pain…"

"I know," Josie said. "Maybe Malivore won't let daemons in. I don't know, but I feel so bad for him." She frowned. "I feel even worse for whoever's down there without him. She'd be all alone. More alone than we've ever felt in our life."

"We knew her, didn't we?"

Josie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "He knew where our tree was, Reu. It's still cloaked; his person had to be part of the spell. I just—I want to know who she is. I want to help her."

Reuven looked away.

Malivore was gone. There was nothing she could do to help now.


	2. Hope

Josie couldn't keep her eyes off of the girl with the twin braids on the MFHS football team. She was new, along with a few other students, but something about her immediately drew Josie's attention in a way the others didn't.

She drew Landon's attention, too. His gaze lingered on her even when he should have been paying attention to the ball, not that Josie could blame him. She was beautiful—but then again, there were a lot of beautiful people on both teams. There was something else there.

It wasn't until the girl crashed full-force into Landon that Josie instinctively felt her stomach lurch, because she didn't have a flying daemon or a fast one who could follow her on foot, and she didn't have a breakaway pocket on her uniform for slower daemons like Pernilla. Whatever her daemon was, they had to be small enough to hide inside her clothes, and if they got crushed beneath her—

But she was fine besides a twisted ankle. She hobbled off toward the nurse's office looking perfectly unshaken considering she could have just died for playing a contact sport with, what, a spider daemon? Maybe she was used to it and they'd learned to play it safely, but again Josie got the overwhelming feeling that something wasn't right.

She set off after her. There wouldn't be any harm in talking to her, right? Making sure she found the nurse's office? It was a bit of a stretch, but Josie couldn't resist the chance to get a moment alone with her.

But when she got to the school, the girl wasn't in the nurse's office or anywhere between it and the front door.

"Maybe she went to look for a bathroom?" Reuven suggested. "Come on, we should get back to the game."

"Hold on. I just want to look around real quick."

A quick search of the first floor yielded nothing, and against Reuven's protests, Josie headed upstairs.

"What are you doing?" he whispered. "What do you expect to say if you find her?"

"At this point?" Josie said. "'Why are you wandering around my school?' would work. 'What are you looking for?' 'Can I help you?'"

Reuven peeked through Landon's open door as Josie passed it. "Okay," he said. "How about, 'What are you doing in my friend's room?'"

Josie stopped and backtracked. Sure enough, the girl was sitting cross-legged on Landon's floor with a map unrolled in front of her. She looked up at Josie, wide-eyed, and said, "I can explain."

Josie crossed her arms. "All right," she said. "Explain."

"I'm helping Dr. Saltzman with Rafael," the girl said. "I know a lot about the Crescent Wolf Clan; I'm just tracking him down so that I can turn him back."

"He asked you for help?"

The girl nodded. "Look, I know this is weird, but I'm kind of in a hurry. They're probably missing you at the game. Why don't you go back and I'll make sure Raf is okay?"

Josie frowned. "Why wouldn't he be okay? What aren't you telling me?"

The girl scooped the map off the floor and stood up. "There's a monster out there that hunts werewolves. But it'll be fine; I can handle it."

"There's another monster and your dad told a stranger about it before you?" Reuven whispered into Josie's ear. She gently swatted him away.

"I'm coming with you," Josie said. "I know the area and I know how to fight."

The girl hesitated, but gave in. "Okay," she said. "Let's go." She paused. "I'm Hope, by the way."

* * *

Josie was a bit distracted keeping the shunka at bay to realize that when Hope ran off as a wolf, there was still no sign of a daemon with her. Once they were both out of sight, though, she did notice the pair of round green eyes watching from behind a large bush.

"Ásfriðr?" She headed toward the bush, but the eyes disappeared and the leaves trembled as the cat daemon pressed closer to the center of the bush. "I thought you left."

"Go away. Now."

Josie frowned. His voice sounded different, rougher and much more animalistic than before. "I'm not going to freeze you again," she said. "I won't do anything to you. But what are you doing back here?"

She knelt down to peer through the branches of the bush. She could barely see a patch of Ásfriðr's cinnamon fur through the leaves, but she didn't want to risk touching him if she dug through the bush.

When he spoke, Ásfriðr's words came out as more of a growl. "I told you to leave," he said. "I humored you before, but I can't do that again. Get away from me."

Josie backed up, but Reuven crept under the lowest branches before she could tell him not to. She felt the pain in her hand before she realized what had happened. Reuven darted to her chest and she held him there instinctively, just catching a glimpse of the tip of Ásfriðr's tail as he disappeared through the undergrowth. He'd scratched at Reuven and made a break for it.

"It's not bad," he said as he flexed his wing to show the small scratch, but Josie could feel that the pain had already faded. "He just surprised me."

"You should have backed off," Josie said. "He obviously didn't want us to see him."

"I know. And I know why." Reuven looked toward where Ásfriðr had gone. "He was wolfed out, Jo. He's her daemon."

Josie blinked. "What? He said she was—"

"Well, she's back, obviously."

"You're sure he was wolfed out?"

"You only heard his voice," Reuven said. "I saw him. He's huge. His claws and his teeth…I mean, if he actually wanted to hurt us, he could have. Easily."

"He couldn't resist seeing her," Josie murmured. "If she's back, why aren't they together? And who _is_ she?"

"I don't know. But she'll be back again once she kills that thing or finds Raf. What are you going to say?"

* * *

Hope had left campus by the time Josie found out she'd gotten Raf home safe and sound. Part of her was disappointed, but another part was relieved. What _do_ you say to someone whose existence you've forgotten? She had no memories of what they might have been through together, no idea how much Hope actually knew about her, how close they had been. Acquaintances? Best friends? It was impossible to tell.

"Stop thinking about it," Reuven said gently. "If you see her again, you can decide what to say then. You have studying to do now."

"I know," Josie said. "It's just—"

She cut off as a scratching noise sounded at her door. She furrowed her brow and exchanged a glance with Reuven before getting up; it didn't sound like the rats she'd been hearing lately.

When she opened the door, she found Ásfriðr waiting in the hallway.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "Can we talk?"

Josie glanced down the hallway. "Did someone tell you where I was, or did you just know where my room is?"

Ásfriðr stayed silent, but Josie stepped aside to let him in. She knew the answer, anyway. She sat on her bed indicated a spot at the end where he could sit. He settled down on the corner, but he didn't look very relaxed. Josie couldn't blame him.

"I shouldn't be here," he said. "But I'm pissed off and I'm so tired of hiding. I'm sure you've put together part of my situation by now."

"You're Hope's daemon," Josie said. "She went into Malivore and you didn't."

Ásfriðr nodded. "I told her not to," he said. "I begged her, actually, but she was dead set on it. I was trying to respect her wishes by keeping this secret from all of you, but you deserve to know."

Josie frowned. "You didn't go in with her because you didn't agree with it?"

"It was an accident." Ásfriðr grimaced. "There's someone else you've forgotten, someone bad. A golem. I was busy fighting his daemon, but she was made of mud as much as he was, and I was struggling with it. I just thought that if I could destroy her enough to get him out of the way, we'd have one less problem to deal with. They fell into the pit without us."

Josie shivered, and Reuven crept closer to Ásfriðr. He nestled his small form into the fur of Ásfriðr's chest, and for a moment the cat daemon tensed, but then the tension fell away.

"I'm so sorry," Reuven whispered.

"What's done is done," Ásfriðr said, but his voice sounded gentler now as he gazed down at Reuven.

"So, there's just a mud daemon wandering around out there, too?" Josie said.

"Yes. But I doubt I'd recognize her if I saw her. And anyway, I don't know whether she's really his soul or if she's just there to make him look more human."

Josie hummed. She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. "Why aren't you with Hope right now, now that she's back?"

"You have no idea what it felt like," Ásfriðr snapped. "How badly it hurt. It all could have been avoided if she would have just listened to me. All of that pain and her plan didn't even work."

Josie flinched and tried to think of how she would feel it had been her and Reuven. It was impossible to imagine, but she did know one thing. "I'm sure she misses you."

Ásfriðr's hackles raised for a moment, then dropped back down. If a cat could cry, Josie was sure he would have tears in his eyes. "I miss her, too, but I don't even know how to be with her anymore. Not like I was." He sighed. "I should be going."

"You can stay here if you want," Reuven said quickly. "I mean, it's got to be better than the woods."

"I don't know," Ásfriðr said. "I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole school to know about me. Lizzie will tell somebody, and then it'll spread…Even if it doesn't, I can't live in your room. It's weird."

It was strange hearing him mention her sister, but it only pounded in what Josie already knew: this daemon knew them. Hope knew them.

"Why don't you just rest here for a while?" Josie said. "Lizzie's off looking for some boy or something. She won't be back until later. And I've got homework I can do in the library."

Ásfriðr thought for a long moment, then sighed. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."


	3. You're Lying to Yourself

"Are we really doing this?" Reuven whispered into Josie's ear as she walked through town toward the motel indicated on the locator spell she'd done in the library. "It's not really our business."

"He wants her back," Josie said. "He just doesn't know how. And she must be so lonely without him."

"You're lying to yourself."

"I'm not," Josie said, then shook her head. Of course she was lying to herself. This was about more than reuniting Hope with her daemon. "Okay," she said. "Maybe a little. But she deserves to know where he is."

Josie knocked on the motel door, and when Hope answered, she was obviously shocked to see her there.

"Hi," she said. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, okay," Hope said as Josie stepped through the door. "Is everything all right?"

Josie wrung her hands out. She'd forgotten to rehearse what she'd say when she actually got here. "Everything's fine," she said. "Um, this is kind of weird for me because I don't remember who you are, but I'm just here as a friend to tell you that your daemon is in my room back at school if you want to go get him."

Hope gaped for a moment before regaining her composure. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Ásfriðr," Josie said. "He explained everything."

A thousand emotions crossed Hope's face so quickly that Josie couldn't even begin to decipher them, but then her expression grew hard and she shook her head. "I can't."

Josie frowned. "What do you mean you can't?" she said. "You know he's avoiding you, right? If you wait until he leaves, it'll be a lot harder to find him."

"Yeah, I know he's avoiding me," Hope said. "He probably hates me. And trust me, I would love to go make up with him and force everything go back to normal, but it's not that simple. And anyway, I can't just show up at the school. I don't go there." The "anymore" was implied.

"It's okay," Josie said. "Other supernaturals visit all the time. No one will think anything of it if I'm with you." She paused. "But you know that. Why haven't you told anyone what happened?"

"You don't get it!" Hope sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know you're trying to help. It's just…none of them know who I am. You and your dad are the only ones who have any idea, but even you don't know me. I don't want any attention from people I love who look at me like I'm a stranger."

"I'm so sorry," Josie said. She paused. "You really don't want to go?"

"No." Hope shook her head. "He probably needs more time, anyway. I'll just stay here until he changes his mind."

"Okay," Josie said. She sat down on the edge of one of the motel beds. "Well, I know it's not the same as knowing you, but if you want to talk about how things used to be, I want to listen."

Hope raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Josie twisted her fingers in her lap. "Ásfriðr's been wandering around in the woods outside the school since June. I got curious enough to track him and I found him in this big hollow tree my sister and I—Lizzie and I—used as a fort when we were younger. It's been cloaked since we were seven or eight, at least."

Hope sat down next to her. "We weren't very close until recently," she said. "I mostly spent time by myself. But I was having a really bad day once, and you heard me crying in my room, so you let me into the cloaking spell to make me feel better. Obviously, all three of us couldn't fit, and it was just a stupid old tree, but it really did help. I guess he remembers that."

"But we were close when you went into the pit?"

"Well…" Hope shrugged. "We had a lot on our plates. But I like to think we were friends." She took a deep breath. "I kind of wish we'd been friends longer than we were."

Josie tilted her head. "Why weren't we? You seem like someone I'd want to be friends with." She paused. "I mean—well, maybe you didn't want to be friends with me. Is it wrong for me to be here?"

Hope let out a laugh seemingly despite herself. "No, not at all," she said. "It's kind of a long story, though, and it's probably not one you really want to hear."

Josie smiled; this was the closest she'd seen Hope to relaxing since they'd met. "Now I'm curious," she said.

"I don't know if it's really my story to tell," Hope said. "But, I mean, you don't remember, so if you want to know…"

"Well, you have to tell me now."

"All right, you asked for it," Hope said with another small laugh. Josie suddenly found herself hoping she'd be able to keep making her smile, even if just a little. Hope settled deeper into the bed, and Josie let herself relax, too. She tried not to stare at Hope's pretty blue eyes or the way her hair curled, but Reuven couldn't help himself. She only hoped Hope wouldn't notice.

"So, we weren't close when we were kids, but we really didn't like each other the past few years," Hope began. "There was this fire in my room, and then you and Lizzie suddenly hated me. I had no idea why; Lizzie blamed me for the fire and accused me of ruining your vacation, and you seemed to back her up, but I couldn't figure out why either of you would believe that."

"I remember that fire," Josie said. "The empty bedroom at the end of the hall. I…" She furrowed her brow. "I remember setting it, but I can't remember why."

"Malivore didn't change anything that's already happened," Hope said. "It just took me out of the picture."

"But I don't understand," Josie said. "Why would I set your room on fire?"

Hope hesitated. "It was an accident," she said. "You were trying to get rid of something you'd left under my door and you missed. And then, you lied to Lizzie and told her I'd been making fun of her, so she assumed I did it myself. You didn't come clean until last fall."

Josie shook her head. "That's terrible," she said. "And you forgave me for that?"

"It was a long time ago," Hope said. "I could tell you were sorry. And I'd really rather just be with you than against you."

Josie hummed and stroked Reuven with her thumb. She could feel anxiety bubbling up in her chest, but she couldn't place why. Hope was clearly over any anger she might have felt, so why did she feel like her insides were twisting themselves into knots?

"I feel really bad now," Josie said. "I mean, I know I can't remember it, but I'm still sorry. What did I want to destroy so badly that I'd do all of that?"

Hope opened her mouth, then closed it again as if trying to decide how to say it, or maybe whether she should say it at all. "It was a note," she said eventually. "It was a note you'd written telling me you had a crush on me."

Josie blinked. "Oh," she said. "Um…"

"Sorry," Hope said. "I figured that would be weird to hear from me, but I couldn't come up with a good lie." And there it was again, that nervous little laugh.

"No, it's fine," Josie said quickly. Was that why she was already so drawn to Hope? It sounded like she thought this crush was a thing of the past, but Josie wasn't so sure. It would explain the buzzing she felt in her chest whenever she looked at the other girl. "I just wish there was some way I could remember."

Hope nodded and looked down. "Yeah, me too." She cleared her throat. "It's getting late. You should probably get back to the school."

Josie didn't want to leave, but she got the picture. "Okay," she said. "If you're really sure you don't want to come back with me, can I come visit you? Maybe I can do some damage control next time I see Ásfriðr."

She expected Hope to refuse, and wouldn't blame her—it really wasn't Josie's place to attempt to force Hope's literal soul to go back to her—but she nodded. "Yeah," she said, "That's fine. I'd like that, actually."

Josie brightened a bit. "All right," she said. "I'll see you later, then."

"See you, Jo."


	4. She Belongs with Us

"Josie, you will not _believe_ the night I've had."

The door was only half open before Lizzie jumped up from her bed to greet Josie. Her daemon, a bright pink and gray cockatoo named Amory, sat preening on his perch: a sure sign she'd spent some quality time with a crush. She must have found Sebastian after all.

"I could guess," Josie said. "Did you just get back?"

"Yeah," Lizzie said. "Oh, also, it was the weirdest thing. I got here and then this cat just shot out of the room."

Josie hummed and tried to keep her expression neutral. "I guess someone snuck their cat in for the semester and it got loose. Remember that ferret in ninth grade?"

Lizzie shook her head. "That's the thing. I know this sounds crazy, because there definitely wasn't a person in here with it, but I'm pretty sure it was a daemon."

Shit. She'd been hoping he moved quickly enough that Lizzie wouldn't be able to tell. "That is really strange," she said.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Amory flew from his perch to land on Lizzie's shoulder. "I swear I'm not making this up."

"No, I believe you!" Josie said. "But whatever it is, it's gone now. How did it go with Sebastian?"

Lizzie perked up. At least Josie could trust that a subject change like this would usually work to distract her sister from potentially dangerous topics.

"Well," Lizzie started, "I don't know where you went during the game, but he showed up to watch, and you should have seen how he looked at me…"

Josie wanted to pay attention, but she couldn't stop thinking about Hope. Hope, alone in her motel room without her daemon. How had she been so calm, so focused, so put together earlier looking for Raf? How had she put aside what Josie assumed had to be the worst kind of pain possible to help other people, people who were evidently hard for her just to look at? It was a kind of strength Josie couldn't even imagine.

She found herself looking out the window for Ásfriðr. She thought she saw a glimpse of his fur, or his eyes, of his tail every so often, but she couldn't be sure in the dark. What kind of name was Ásfriðr, anyway? It sounded like Old Norse, like the name an old, old vampire's daemon would have, but she never saw any golden dust swirl around him the way it did on vampires' daemons. It was crazy enough that Hope was both a witch and a werewolf, anyway. Maybe she could ask about it if they got close enough.

"Josie, are you even listening?"

Josie blinked and turned her attention back to Lizzie. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry."

Lizzie frowned. "Are you all right? You're not usually this spacey."

"I'm fine," Josie said. "I'm really happy for you; it's just been a long day. Is it all right if I turn in?"

"Yeah, sure," Lizzie said. "I'll finish telling you about it tomorrow."

* * *

The woods looked the same as they always had, but they'd never seemed so full. Josie sat cross-legged on the ground as Reuven flew a circuit around the trees above her, looking out for the now-familiar shape of Hope's daemon down below. It wasn't long before he landed on her shoulder and said, "He's coming."

Ásfriðr's fur looked dirtier and more bedraggled than usual when he stepped through the undergrowth and into Josie's sight. Not only that, but he looked tired. Bone tired. Reuven flew to him, and when he landed, Ásfriðr butted his head against him as gently as possible before lying down. Josie watched them with something like awe as Reuven burrowed deeper into Ásfriðr's fur and settled there.

"What happened?" Josie said.

A sound like laughter came from the cat daemon, but it was sad, easily mistaken for soft crying. He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Lizzie saw me last night."

Josie frowned. "I know," she said. "Don't worry; she didn't ask many questions."

"I promised myself I would only stay half an hour," Ásfriðr said. "I just couldn't get up and leave. It felt too much like home, but it never will be again."

"That's not true," Reuven said. "We know where Hope is. Go to her and convince her to come back with us."

"She won't." Ásfriðr let a low grow build beneath his words. "This is her fault and she's punishing herself more than she already has been, even if she doesn't realize it. And she's punishing me, too."

Josie shook her head. "Maybe she'll come back if we find a way to remember her."

Ásfriðr snorted. "If a way exists, you won't be able to find it. And anyway, I saw that thing yesterday. If Malivore is back, you need to focus on getting rid of it. You won't have time to look for a solution for us."

"I'm going to try," Josie said. "Okay? You belong with her, and she belongs with us whether we remember her or not. You know that. Even I can feel it just being around her."

Ásfriðr's eyes softened. "Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe you're not. But…I'm glad you're the one who learned the truth."

Josie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "So am I." She stood up. "I guess I have some research to do. If you change your mind about seeing Hope…"

"I'll come find you."

* * *

"I wasn't really expecting you to be back so soon."

Josie smiled sheepishly at Hope over the pile of books she'd brought from the Salvatore library. "Is it a bad time?"

"No, I guess not. Here, let me grab some of those." Hope slid some of the books into her arms and carried them to her bed. "So, what exactly is all this?"

"Homework for both of us," Josie said. "I thought we could look for a way to bring everybody's memories back. I mean—if you want to. I would have asked before I came, but I forgot to get your number last night. Unless it's…" Josie put down the rest of the books and pulled out her phone to scroll through her contacts. "Yeah, you're already in here. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Hope said. "But, uh…that shunka is dead, so there's going to be another monster soon. That's a little bit more pressing than whether or not people know who I am." She paused. "But thank you. You know, for thinking about me."

How could I not? Josie thought, but she didn't say it out loud. She picked up one of the books and mindlessly thumbed through it. "Of course Malivore is important," Josie said, "but if it were me, all I'd be thinking about is getting things back to normal." She glanced up at Hope. "I wouldn't be okay."

"Maybe you wouldn't be," Hope said, "but I'm used to things going wrong for me. It's just another bad thing to work around, and that's it. Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure," Josie said, biting back her urge to argue. She wanted to say that being used to things going wrong doesn't mean she should just accept it every time it happens, but was it really her place? She didn't know Hope well enough to anticipate how she would take a statement like that. "What do you want to do about Malivore?"

Hope's shoulders relaxed when Josie didn't press. "Well, I was thinking we should keep an eye on it when we can so we'll know when any new monsters arrive. I'm…considering a new course of action to get rid of it, but I want to look for other options first. For now, we just need to make sure no one gets hurt, and that means watching the pit." She looked from Josie to the pile of books and back. "I don't think we'll find an answer in a book, but do you want to come sit with me?"


	5. I Felt You With Me

"You're joking. Klaus Mikaelson? Really?"

"I'm not!" Hope insisted. "Can't you see it? I've always been told I look like him."

"It just seems so crazy," Josie said. "A vampire having kids. How does that even happen?"

"Oh." Reuven perked up. "That explains Ásfriðr's name."

Josie and Hope sat at opposite ends of the park bench in front of Malivore. Josie found herself sitting sideways, leaning against the back of the bench to face the other girl. Reuven roosted on one of the slats between them.

"Yeah," Hope said. "It was Orrin's idea—my mom's daemon. A passable modern name for me, an old traditional one for him. I didn't like how much it stood out when I was younger, but…"

"I think it suits him," Reuven said.

Hope nodded. "Me too." She turned her attention back to the pit. "You know, I can feel him out there. Even though he's not attached to me the way he's supposed to be anymore, I still feel what he feels. He must have cut himself on a rock or something earlier." She paused. "And he's been so angry."

Josie hummed, but she didn't really know what to say. Then, Hope looked back up at her.

"Were you talking to him a couple hours ago?"

"Yeah." Josie frowned. "How could you tell?"

"I just could." She took a deep breath. "I don't know. It's like I felt you with me or something. I know that sounds ridiculous."

"No, it doesn't," Josie said. "I promise."

"I was touching him," Reuven whispered to Josie. "It's because I was curled up against him."

Josie shivered, but not from cold. She couldn't reply discreetly, but the thought of Hope identifying her presence miles away just by the touch of their daemons made her heart race. There were a few people Josie could probably identify that way—her parents, Lizzie, Penelope—but it would have to mean their daemons had touched a lot. What was she missing out on from the gaps in her memory? Friendly greetings in the hallways at school, hugs? She couldn't help but imagine Reuven snuggled against Ásfriðr as she laughed and talked and held hands with Hope in bed like they'd been best friends for years. It felt real enough to be a memory, but that was impossible. Wasn't it?

"Are you okay?"

Josie hadn't realized she'd been staring into space and trembling, but Hope's voice snapped her out of it.

"Yeah, sorry," she said. Reuven moved down to her lap where she could pet him to calm herself. "Can you tell me more about what our friendship was like? I know you said we were both busy most of the time, but…you know, what did we do when we did get to hang out?"

Hope shrugged. "Sometimes we'd show each other music or watch TV on my laptop. But mostly, I guess, we just talked. School, monsters, gossip. Well, judging the gossip that was going around the school, really. That kind of thing."

Josie imagined them discussing the realism of some rumor started by one of the younger werewolves, laughing about how it clearly wasn't true. She imagined lying on the floor with Hope, taking turns blasting their favorite songs when one of them was having a particularly bad day. And then, she stopped imagining, because she was sure it would drive her crazy wondering whether these were real memories or whether she just had an overactive imagination. She hoped so badly that they were real.

She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Hey, I just remembered I promised Lizzie I'd study with her for a test on Monday," she lied. "I have to get going."

"Oh," Hope said. Did she look disappointed? "Okay. Don't forget those books you left in my room; Dorian will kill you if any of those go missing."

"Yeah, I'll get them," Josie said. She stood up and held Reuven against her chest. "I'll see you later."

* * *

"What were you thinking bringing so many books, anyway?" Reuven said as Josie gathered them and stacked them on the nightstand.

"I don't know," Josie said. "I should have counted them before we left."

"Did one fall down here somehow?" Reuven slid a wing under the nightstand, but he was too small to pull the book out from under it. Josie picked it up and looked at the spine.

"No," she said. "This doesn't belong to the school. I think it's a journal." She flipped it over; the pages were tabbed with dogears and sticky notes.

"Don't you dare think about looking in that," Reuven warned. "It's none of our business."

"I wasn't going to," Josie said.

She bent down to put the book back under the nightstand, but one of the sticky notes fell out and landed on the floor.

"Crap," she said. "Did you see which page that came from?"

Reuven ducked under Josie's arm to inspect the pages and hooked his claw between two of them. "I think it opened up here."

Josie opened the book and pressed the sticky note onto a blank spot. She was about to close it without a second thought before the writing on the page caught her eye.

"Josie…"

"I know," she said, "but look. It's about defeating Malivore."

Reuven reluctantly peered up at the book. "She thought she was the key to killing it?"

"She was," Josie said. "There were no monsters all summer. But…" She frowned as she scanned the next few pages. "Something about a tribrid and Triad, and…" Josie's heart sank. "She thinks the only reason it didn't work right the first time is because she wasn't a vampire."

"That's the course of action she's thinking about, isn't it?" Reuven said. "She wants to try again. Josie, we can't let her do that. She can't."

"She did it before." Josie closed the book and slid it back under the nightstand. "I don't think asking her nicely is going to work. But if we can find another way, maybe she won't feel like she has to sacrifice herself. That's what we need to do."

"We should tell her we saw this."

"No, we shouldn't," Josie said. "That'll only push her away. She doesn't have anyone right now, not even her daemon. We can't risk her deciding looking for another option isn't worth it."

Reuven huffed. "And if she finds out we snooped and didn't come clean about it?"

"We hope she doesn't find out."

"Fine," Reuven said. "But you know we can't keep it all to ourselves."

Josie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "He deserves to know."

* * *

Josie watched Ásfriðr lay his ears back, his hackles raising as Reuven explained to him what they'd found. The poor daemon had already been through so much. She hated that they had to give him this news, too.

As strange as it was talking to a daemon so disconnected from his person, she'd grown used to it. He almost seemed like an entirely separate being if it weren't for overwhelming feeling that a part of Hope was there with them. The more time she spent with Hope, the more it hurt her to think about the things she must be feeling. Of course people disagreed and even fought with their daemons, but nothing like the kind of self-betrayal she was still going through.

"And if she did this," Ásfriðr said, "how much do you want to bet she wouldn't seek me out to ask my opinion, or even just to warn me? How can she care so little?"

"She knows you're mad at her," Reuven said. "I think she's afraid you'll be more upset if she does come after you."

Ásfriðr shook his head. "I'd rather her do that than kill us and throw herself back in." He paused, and Josie could see that he was trembling, but whether it was from fear or anger or sadness, she couldn't tell. "I hate her."

"No, you don't," Reuven said gently. "You love her. You've just been going through a lot."

"I'm done playing games. She can come here and face what she's been avoiding, or she can keep pretending she's fine playing hero all by herself." He looked at Josie. "You tell her that."

Josie balked. "Why do you think that would help?" she said. "I don't remember her; I have no idea how convince her to come back here."

"Trust me," Ásfriðr said. "If anyone can, it's you. It doesn't matter if you remember her. What matters is that she remembers you."

She shifted uncomfortably. "You think that'll be enough?"

"I hope so," he said. "She loves you, you know. I don't know what all she's told you about your friendship, but you're more important to her than you think. You always have been."

Somehow, that statement only made her more nervous. "Okay," Josie said. "I'll talk to her."


	6. You Don't Have to be Alone

"I have to tell you something."

"Is everything okay?" Hope said. She sat on her bed watching Josie stand awkwardly in front of her. "You left so fast yesterday, I was afraid I said something wrong."

"You didn't," Josie said. "But, uh, we talked to Ásfriðr and he wants you to go to the school and find him. He told me to tell you…" She hesitated. "He said that you can go there and face what you're avoiding or you can keep pretending you're okay playing hero all by yourself."

Hope scowled. "That's ridiculous," she said. "I have good reason to avoid the school."

"I know." Josie looked down. "But the thing is, I think you don't want to get close to anybody because you know they're just going to forget you again."

"What?"

"Your journal." Josie gestured to the book still lying underneath the nightstand. "I swear, I didn't look through it on purpose. I picked it up thinking it was a library book I dropped and when one of the sticky notes fell out I was trying to figure out where it went and—" She took a deep breath. "I know you're planning on turning yourself and going back to Malivore if you can't find another answer."

Hope sighed. "Josie…"

"No, I know," Josie said. "You want to protect everyone. I get it. But you can't just keep sacrificing yourself."

"You think I want to?" Hope sat up straighter and a fire lit in her eyes. "I don't want to go back there. It's horrible. But what I did was the only solution at the time, and right now, it looks like it still is. It doesn't even matter. Nobody remembers me; I just…I can't go without him this time. I can't leave him again."

"This time?" Josie shook her head. "Please, just come back to the school and help us find another solution."

"If I do that, then it'll be that much harder to go if I have to make this decision again."

"Then don't make it," Josie begged. "Look, I know you remember all kinds of things that nobody else does, but I don't want to forget anything else. I still feel like I know you, and I want you to be here. I want to be able to get close to you again." She sighed. "I'm sure your other friends will all feel the same way if you give them the chance."

Hope looked down and shook her head. "It won't ever be the same."

Josie sat beside her, so closely that their knees touched. "Maybe not," she said. "Or maybe we'll find a way to restore everyone's memory. But either way, you don't have to be alone."

Reuven climbed out of Josie's hands as she spoke and inched closer to Hope. She could tell what he was doing, and part of her was scared, terrified of what it might feel like, but a bigger part of her trusted what Ásfriðr had said. It trusted her gut feeling toward Hope.

Hope froze when Reuven crawled onto her lap as she prepared to reply. At first, Josie was afraid it was a huge mistake, but if anyone were to feel uncomfortable with it, it should be her. All she felt instead was warmth in her chest. Love. She loved Hope. She always had, even if she didn't remember.

Tears welled up in Hope's eyes as she stared down at Reuven, her hands hovering above him as if she were afraid to touch him any more than he was already touching her.

"It's okay," Josie said. She could feel tears brimming in her own eyes as well. She didn't know this kind of intimacy existed. "You can touch him."

Hope lowered her hands and ran one thumb as gently as she could over Reuven's back, and the tears fell. She stroked him once, twice, and then shook her head and wiped her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Okay. I'll go back."

Josie sighed with relief, and a weight she didn't know she'd been carrying lifted from her shoulders. Her own tears spilled over her cheeks as Hope leaned forward to wrap her in a warm embrace. "Thank you," she said.

Hope nodded and pulled away. "Well," she said. "Let's go get my daemon back."

* * *

It was dark by the time they made it to the school's entrance. Hope looked so apprehensive about it that Josie was sure she'd change her mind, but she took a deep breath and opened the gate herself.

"He still spends all his time in the woods," Josie said. "If you want to go find him by yourself, I'll just go and wait for you upstairs."

Hope shook her head. "Can you come?" she said. "You're the only thing that's been connecting us since I came back."

Josie hesitated. Wouldn't this reunion be a little too personal for spectators? But if it was what Hope wanted, she wouldn't say no. "Of course I will," she said. "If you're sure."

"I am."

Hope took Josie's hand as they started toward the trees as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then promptly let go. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to – I mean, I know things aren't the same. I'm just still getting used to it."

"It's all right." Josie steeled herself and reached for Hope's hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You've touched my daemon," she said. "Hand-holding is more than okay."

"It's just—" Hope shook her head. "I understand why he's angry. I don't blame him. But what if he can't forgive me?"

"He asked you to come here," Josie said. "He wouldn't do that if he wasn't ready to forgive you."

"You're probably right," Hope said. "I guess I'm the one who's not ready to face him."

Josie's eyes slid past Hope and toward the tree line as a familiar figure padded out from under the shadows. "Too late," she said. "But it'll be okay."

Hope let go of her hand and took a few tentative steps toward him. "Ásfriðr?" she called. "I am so, so sorry. I know I messed up, but—"

She cut herself off and kneeled down as Ásfriðr suddenly streaked toward her. He bounded into her arms as though he'd never been upset at all, purring and butting his head against hers. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his fur, and for the first time, Josie saw them as they were supposed to be, both of them lit up with joy and relief. They were whole again, and her heart ached with love she couldn't even begin to understand.

"If you ever pull something like that again, I'm going to kill you," Ásfriðr murmured, but he stayed still and content against Hope's chest. "Tell me you'll let us go home now."

Hope held him against her as she stood up and turned back to Josie. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she didn't try to hide them this time. "Is my room still empty?"

Josie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Let's get you settled in."

* * *

"Where did all of your things go?"

Hope shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. She hadn't let go of Ásfriðr since they'd reunited. "I told your dad to get rid of everything," she said. "I didn't think I'd be back and I didn't want anyone trying to find me."

Josie hummed. "I guess it probably still doesn't feel much like home, huh?"

"It doesn't matter," Hope said. "I didn't really realize how good it would feel to be back, even considering everything."

She patted the bed beside her, and Josie sat where she indicated. Reuven climbed across her lap toward Hope like he had before, this time to touch noses with Ásfriðr and roost against him. He couldn't do it without brushing up against Hope again, and Josie could feel Ásfriðr's fur tickling her knee. She didn't know whether she should mention it. Had this been normal for them before? It must have been to feel this right.

Hope's gaze softened down at the daemons and the corners of her mouth turned up. Josie didn't think she'd ever seen a smile so beautiful.

"This is what they always did when we'd hang out," Hope said. "It's almost like he hasn't really forgotten."

"I'm not sure I have, either."

Hope looked up at her, her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Josie said, her face growing warm. "Everything feels so natural with you. It's like even if I don't remember you, I know how to be with you. How to sit with you and how to hold your hand and how to talk to your daemon, even. It doesn't feel like a new friendship to me."

"Well, it doesn't feel like that to me, either," Hope chuckled. She sobered a moment later. "I know this is strange territory. I don't really know how to act with you, whether there's a line and where it is. I never want to make you uncomfortable."

"Don't worry about it," Josie said. "I'm sure you have enough to deal with without second-guessing whether you're making me uncomfortable." She paused. "Judging by what I've been feeling these past few days, I don't think you could."

Hope nodded and stroked between Ásfriðr's shoulders. "Thank you," she said. "For bringing me back here."

"Of course."

The air between them suddenly felt so heavy and full that Josie couldn't breathe for a moment. All she could see was the light in Hope's eyes, the curve of her lips. All she could feel was that pulsing, glowing love in her chest.

She'd leaned forward kissed Hope once, chaste, before she even realized what she was doing. She didn't have time to move away and apologize before Hope caught her lips again, kissing her slowly and gently. Lovingly. When they parted, they leaned their foreheads against one another and Josie closed her eyes, Hope's dewy perfume floating around her and Ásfriðr's purring filling her eyes. If she could stay like this forever, she would.

"I'm going to get my memories back," Josie murmured. "Everyone's memories. I promise."

"You can't promise that," Hope said, but Josie could tell she didn't fully believe it anymore. Maybe together they really had a chance.

"Well," Josie said, "I'll try. And if I can't do it, you'll still have me. I can promise that."

Hope grinned and tucked a lock of hair behind Josie's ear. "All right," she said. "I think I'm okay with that."


End file.
